http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=24406&title=reparations-2003
Sorry, I tried embedding it but that didn't work out too well.
President Obama walks fine line on race, justice
11 years ago
"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side."
The reparations skit raises real questions in terms of domestic policy, even if those questions are not at the top of our current government's agenda with the War in Iraq, conflict in Afghanistan, rising nuclear threat in several countries, recession, enormous government deficit etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteSome people do believe that select Native Americans and African Americans who can prove illegal marginalization in their direct past deserve reparations from the American government. I am in a law & economics class right now, and there are two different kind of "damages" that can be prescribed to remedy the destruction/harm of one's property. Essentially, one kind mandates the repayment for previous damages, and the other adds on damages for assumed amounts of harm in the future.
Watching that video, it made me wonder which kinds of damages would be assessed to African Americans who can prove that their ancestors were enslaved? Would it include damages for presumed future ramifications? And how would economists even begin to quantify the efficient amount that would make the descendants "whole"? Would they assess it on an individual basis?
I, obviously, have no answers to these questions. I am going to bring this topic up in my law/econ class tomorrow.